Rosenthal – creator of TV series London's Burning and co-author, with Barbra Streisand, of the film Yentl – includes among his dramatis personae a bonkers lyricist, an arrogant director, a bad-tempered composer and a bombastic producer.

It soon became apparent why, in what turned out to be one of the most personal and bad-tempered debates in the US during this campaign, at times reaching levels of child-like tantrums unlikely to be witnessed much outside a school playground.